Low-cost spray deposition is employed to investigate the possibility of using earth-abundant ZrO2 as the antireflection coating in Si solar cells. Structural, optical, and electrical properties of spray-deposited ZrO2 films are investigated. Spray-deposited ZrO2 is highly transparent with a refractive index of 2.0 at 600 nm. Reflection and transmission spectra of ZrO2 films reveal that the optical properties of spray-deposited ZrO2 are comparable to SiNx deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Atomic force microscopy studies show that spray-deposited ZrO2 is crack/pore-free and its surface roughness has a root-mean-square value of 0.7 nm for a 75-nm film. Spray-deposited ZrO2 at 550 degrees C is polycrystalline with a cubic lattice but largely amorphous at 450 degrees C as determined by X-ray diffraction. Capacitance-voltage measurements indicate that spray-deposited ZrO2 has a negative charge density of 8.19 x 10(11) cm(-2) for a 75-nm film. Post-deposition annealing results in a significant decrease in oxide capacitance which is attributed to the formation of SiO2 at the ZrO2/Si interface. The resistivity of as-deposited ZrO2 is 3.69 x 10(12 )Omega-cm and it improves to 2.46 x 10(13) Omega-cm after post-deposition annealing in air at 600 degrees C for 1 h.